“Studded vs. studless: Tahoe officials weigh in on options - North Lake Tahoe Bonanza” plus 4 more

Studded vs. studless: Tahoe officials weigh in on options - North Lake Tahoe Bonanza
Chinese Tengzhong buys Hummer from GM - The Money Times
Dana Corp. to maintain stock exchange listing - Longview News-Journal
NAVTEQ Delivers Enhanced Accuracy and Efficiency Using the Oracle ... - PR Newswire
Market Mover - American Reporter

Studded vs. studless: Tahoe officials weigh in on options - North Lake Tahoe Bonanza

Posted: 12 Oct 2009 06:50 AM PDT

INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. — From crushed walnut shells to coiled wires, tire manufactures have been reinventing the wheel for decades.

The most recent reinvention in the last decade has been studless snow tires — wheels made of a more porous rubber compound that grips slippery ice.

Tests show that both studded and studless snow tires perform relatively equally in winter conditions, and the decision of which to buy generally comes down to personal preference, local vendors said.

"I've got a lot of people who won't put anything but studded snows on their tires and the complete opposite as well," said Joe David, owner of Sierra County Tire and Automotive in Kings Beach.

He puts studless snow tires on his Audi and studded tires on his plow truck.

"They both do a really good job," he said.

Sometimes the choice comes down to a generational gap, said Greg Jacobsen, manager of The Auto & Tire Doctor in Truckee.

"The younger generations, they don't know about studded snow tires unless they hear it from their parents," Jacobsen said. "They lean more to studless, where as the people who have used studded tires might ten to stick with them because they know they work."

Jacobsen drives a good all-terrain tire through the winter.

Studless tires are becoming more popular because many newer sizes of tires come in studless, said Bob Elliott, store manager of Ken's Tire Center in South Lake Tahoe. He drives studded tires on his Corolla.

At the Nevada Highway Patrol, officers drive cars with winter tires with heavy treads, said Sgt. Blair Harkleroad. In Incline Village and Washoe County, deputies have used studded tires in the past but may move toward studless, said Sgt. Bill Devine.

In Tahoe City and the west shore, Placer County Sheriff Department deputies drive studded tires during the winter.

"Studded tires work, until you get into really thick snow and then nothing matters" said Placer Sgt. John Giovannini.

California Highway Patrol officers use studded snow tires in the winter, said officer Steven Skeen, and the South Lake Tahoe Police Department also drives studded tires during the winter, said Sgt. Brad Williams.

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Chinese Tengzhong buys Hummer from GM - The Money Times

Posted: 12 Oct 2009 07:33 AM PDT

GM, which bought the license for the Hummer brand from AM General in 1999, will continue to manufacture the vehicle till 2012, post which Tengzhong will take over.

As a part of the deal, Tengzhong will take over the Hummer brand, its trademark and intellectual-property rights. However, the Hummer dealers will carry on operations under the agreements they had entered with GM.

With Hummer in its portfolio, Tengzhong intends to manufacture a more fuel-efficient and environmentally-friendly fleet, including electric vehicles in the near future. The company is also contemplating producing a diesel powered Hummer which would be sold outside North America.

Challenge for the buyer
The deal brings to light the global ambitions Chinese auto players have. The litmus test for Tengzhong would, however, be to rejuvenate the troubled auto brand.

Klaus Paur, North Asia director for TNS said, "For China, it is an opportunity to show they are able to produce the vehicles that are in demand. It is definitely a good thing for China to move forward in this direction, but there are still some hurdles to overcome."

The challenge is really huge for the Chengdu, China-based manufacturer given the fact that it does not have a rich experience in managing a global business.

Also, if the deal is to see the light of the day, the Chinese government has to give its go-ahead. John Zeng, a Shanghai-based analyst at IHS Global Insight opined, "Whether it will be approved will hinge on how they develop the next generation fuel-efficient models. The existing Hummer models don't fit the government's direction for fuel-efficient vehicles."

The downfall of Hummer
Hummer is the civilian counterpart of the military vehicle Humvee. Created in 1998, Hummer satiated the appetite of the Americans aspiring for sport-utility vehicles.

When GM, as a whole, fell into a financial quagmire in 2005, so did the brand. Brushing aside all suggestions of selling off the brand, GM retained Hummer, only to see its sales plummet.

Hummer sales have dipped as much as 64 percent this year, as compared to the comparative period last year. GM sold a mere 426 Hummers nation wide in the month of September.

But there is a silver lining.

Jim Lynch, a Hummer owner claims that the deal removes a lot of ambiguity from the customer's minds. "There were people who were considering purchasing a Hummer but waiting because they didn't known if the brand would be around or not," Mr. Lynch said.

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Dana Corp. to maintain stock exchange listing - Longview News-Journal

Posted: 12 Oct 2009 05:53 AM PDT

Home > BizBuzz > Archives > 2009 > October > 12 > Entry

Dana Corp. to maintain stock exchange listing

By Mike Elswick | Monday, October 12, 2009, 07:58 AM

Auto-parts supplier Dana Holding Corp., which has a truck frame plant in Longview, said late last week the New York Stock Exchange had notified the company that it was in full compliance with the exchange's quantitative listing standards, according to the Associated Press.

The news comes after Dana received a letter in December 2008 saying it had fallen below the minimum share price and market capitalization requirements for continued listing on the exchange.

Dana said it satisfied the minimum share price requirement — maintaining a 30-day average of more than $1 per share — and had a closing price of at least $1 on May 29, the AP reported.

Compliance for the market capitalization standard required Dana to maintain an average market capitalization of more than $100 million for two consecutive quarterly periods. The company said it has exceeded this requirement since May.

Dana recently completed a successful public share offering, raising about $250 million.

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NAVTEQ Delivers Enhanced Accuracy and Efficiency Using the Oracle ... - PR Newswire

Posted: 12 Oct 2009 06:50 AM PDT

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- NAVTEQ, the leading global provider of digital map, traffic and location data for in-vehicle, portable, wireless and enterprise solutions, announces today that two NAVTEQ(R) products are now available for Oracle(R) Database and applications: Point Addressing and NAVTEQ Transport.

Point Addressing provides the positional accuracy that enterprise applications demand for best in class business intelligence solutions. A point address provides a point on a road for a specific address optimizing "to the door" arrival by providing address points adjusted to precise address locations.

NAVTEQ Transport data offers detailed road attributes including physical restrictions, legal restrictions, HAZMAT and specific POIs like truck stops and is specifically designed to facilitate turn by turn navigation for trucks and other large vehicles. In addition, a truck using NAVTEQ Transport can be notified of the height of an upcoming overpass or be directed away from a road that restricts certain types of vehicles. Combined, Point Addressing and NAVTEQ Transport enable both better business decisions and improve the accuracy, safety and efficiency of destination routing.

New enhancements to the geocoding and routing features of Oracle Spatial in Oracle Database 11g Release 2 include support for point addressing and truck transportation datasets. Adding Point Addressing to NAVTEQ's portfolio of mapping, geocoding, and routing products available for Oracle Database allows Oracle enterprise users to geocode addresses with the highest level of accuracy required for business intelligence, data mining, retail, service and logistics applications.

"Many Oracle applications depend on NAVTEQ maps and content to meet our customer demands for high quality and accurate solutions," said Steven Hagan, vice president of Development, Oracle. "This is another case where Oracle's spatial technologies and NAVTEQ products and services combine to provide leading edge enterprise solutions with location content that enable greater efficiency and functionality."

"NAVTEQ and Oracle have been collaborating for many years. NAVTEQ is the only provider of turn-key data solutions on the Oracle platform. We are pleased to now enable improved mapping, geocoding, and routing on the Oracle platform through the introduction of NAVTEQ Transport and Point Addressing," said Roy Kolstad, vice president, Enterprise Americas, NAVTEQ. "As the leading provider of map content solutions for fleet and work force management, NAVTEQ is excited to enable another set of strategic planning solutions for our customers across all enterprise verticals, including government, utilities, telecom and retail."

NAVTEQ is a member of the Oracle PartnerNetwork.

About the Oracle PartnerNetwork

Oracle PartnerNetwork is a global business network of more than 21,000 companies that deliver innovative software solutions based on Oracle software. Through access to Oracle's premier products, education, technical services, marketing and sales support, the Oracle PartnerNetwork program provides partners with the resources they need to be successful in today's global economy. Oracle partners are able to offer their customers leading-edge solutions backed by Oracle's position as the world's largest business software company. Partners who are able to demonstrate superior product knowledge, technical expertise and a commitment to doing business with Oracle qualify for the Certified Partner levels. http://oraclepartnernetwork.oracle.com

About NAVTEQ

NAVTEQ is the leading global provider of digital map, traffic and location data that enables navigation and location-based platforms around the world. NAVTEQ supplies comprehensive digital map information to power automotive navigation systems, portable and wireless devices, Internet-based mapping applications and government and business solutions. The Chicago-based company was founded in 1985 and has approximately 4,400 employees located in 192 offices and in 43 countries.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060313/NAVTEQLOGO)

SOURCE NAVTEQ

Website: http://www.navteq.com

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Market Mover - American Reporter

Posted: 12 Oct 2009 05:24 AM PDT

Market Mover
DEAR ANDREW: THERE'S THIS GUY NAMED OBAMA
Mark Scheinbaum
American Reporter Correspondent
Panama City, Panama

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Printable version of this story

PANAMA CITY, Panama -- After hosting my own election night party I awoke with a slight hangover, vaguely recalling this dream that a black guy had been elected President of the United States of America.

Then I switched on Voice of America news and realized it was not a dream, and realized among others that I never said good-bye to Andrew Goodman when we hurriedly threw our stuff together to leave the room we shared with two other summer camp workers at Camp Kitattinny in Dingman's Ferry, Pa., which was really in Layton, N.J.

How could I know that a few months later Andrew would be murdered with two other civil rights workers in Mississippi and dumped in a mucky clay grave. Who knew?

There is so much I want to say, so little I can say.

~ ~ ~

In the international spirit of spirits on election night we settled into the tony lounge at the English-owned Bristol Hotel because it was one of the few public rooms not closed by Flag Day in Panama. Knowing that a Barack Obama victory would have international repercussions, I started the evening with Canadian whisky, moving on to French cognac, and then finishing with by then pre-dawn Nicaraguan dark rum.

About 20 American health care professionals who worked with a missionary group wandered in to watch the results. I had spread the word where I'd be hanging out and for the doctors and nurses working with clinics in poor Panama neighborhoods the clean bathroom, fresh linen towels, and quiet Bella Vista neighborhood street were welcome relief.

My first clue that stereotypes are, well, stereotypical, was after listening to pockets of conversations about the sanctity of life; role of the church in society, family values and structures, and the morass of health care in the United States, a uniform cheer went up when the networks awarded an Obama victory to Michigan from where many of the visitors hailed.

~ ~ ~

Earlier in the day the exclusive, member-segregated Union Club (which allows black, mixed-race, indigenous, Jewish, and other "guests" who would be denied actual membership) hosted a room filled with multi-culturalism gone wild. Sponsored by the Junior Chamber of Commerce in celebration of Panama's 105th Independence Day, Lions, Rotarians, Kiwanians, Soroptomists and others gathered to pledge continued work for the poor.

One speaker as if mocking defeated GOP candidate John McCain's recent mantra of Sen. Obama wanting to "spread" wealth and "give away money belonging to rich people" reminded the audience that "even a small country is judged by how we treat the least among us. How we care for abandoned kids and uncared for elderly." It was the Panamanian equivalent of "a rising tide raises all ships."

The speaker was millionaire Panamanian Sen. Felipe Ariel Rodriguez who made his money in the auto parts business. He has refused urgings to run for president because he can't decide which political party is less corrupt, and after the hoopla of being named legislative "ombudsman" of the cleptocracy if former Pres. Mireya Moscoso he quit in disgust when it turned out Her Shoppingness only wanted to use his trusted name to lend righteousness to her cash "disappearances" and state visits to the Town Center Mall in Boca Raton, Fla.

The listeners above age 50 were white and mostly male. The listeners under 50 were black and brown and had Chinese and Hispanic surnames, and were women club presidents and board members in significant numbers.

The tall black priest who gave the invocation, Father Oscar Martin, could have been right out of an Obama playbook. The Spanish flowed like poetry and in the room, in the moment, in the frozen humid tropical time it defied precise English translation. But it included an inner glow and eye contact with every one of the 50 or 60 civic leaders, and the slow prayer: "Lord. For many of us let your Son Jesus be the rich coffee of our high lands whose aroma and strength flavors a people. And, Lord, let the people of all religions, and cultures, and histories who fled so much oppression elsewhere to settle here, be the cream which blends the coffee into a magnificent texture."

~ ~ ~

On local radio today the news "readers" bantered ad lib comments in between the reaction of world leaders to the Barack Obama's victory. Comments included:

"It might be that the United States which was born in an age of slavery, and institutionalized racism, for the first time has stood tall as the leader of nations, for all people, of all origins."

"It would be hard for some child anywhere in Asia, or Africa, or Latin America to feel that there is something they could not achieve because of their skin color or family background, when you think of who was just elected in the most powerful country."

"World leaders really want North American to lead. The U.S. and Canada, but mostly the U.S. and to show lots of experts were wrong, and change is possible,"

"Fidel Castro of Cuba issued a comment which was positive about Obama, and it was the usual stuff, but it sort of has some resonance in the defeat of John McCain and a signal that a string of years which seemed to relish the 'politics of war' could be behind us."

~ ~ ~

It was 1976 on a muddy country road in a trailer park near Havana, Florida which is pronounced Hay'-vah-ner and was about four years before I ever set foot in the other Havana, the one in Cuba.

Near the Leon Co.-Gadsden Co. line was in one of the most concentrated "Black Belts" and poverty belts of the Old South, and the Williams family was preparing the Independence Day goat roast. The day before we had taken a truck up to Thomasville, Ga., to their longtime butcher to pick up the dressed-out "half goat" ready for the spit and hot coals of the front yard.

My dad was visiting from New York, and we were incidentally the only white folks there, but we were with family nonetheless. This was my American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees organizing "family" and three generations of the Williams family were centers of influence and respect on both the campuses of huge Florida State University and historically black "FAMU" Florida A&M University.

As day faded to evening, and goat barbeque, baked beans, cole slaw, sweet potato pie, and 'nilla bread puddin' was washed down by Old Milwaukee and later hot coffee and "sweet tea" we talked of where we were and why we were.

"Good Ole Boy rednecks' like Jim Cushing had slapped aside their "upbringin'" and led other rural whites to integrated union organizational meetings, and Sunday covered dish rallies in small wooden black churches with names like "Missionary Baptist," or "Ethiopian Ezekial," or "Mount Zion Tabernacle" and moved pockets of the Deep South ever so slowly into the "New South" which in many ways eclipsed the pseudo-liberal rhetoric of New York or Philly.

A black president of a local union would be a great thing.

A black president of the United States was never mentioned.

~ ~ ~

It was 3PM on an October afternoon. The Bums of Brooklyn were facing the mighty New York Yankees. It was the sports version of David v. Goliath and as usual Goliath would win. The dad in the waiting room two blocks from Ebbets Field was listening to the game on radio because the New York Daily Mirror had promised a then-huge $100 U.S. Savings Bond to any baby born in Brooklyn, during the deciding game of the World Series, if and only if the Dodgers won the game and the Series.

It was Jackie Robinson's first season as the first African-American officially allowed to play in Major League Baseball.

Someone smacked me on the butt and I was born.

Third out, Dodgers lost, no Savings Bond.

~ ~ ~

The United States of America at times is a very, very, very strange and wonderful place.